Trying kirkland signature 7.0

[bobm07921]

just tried out new ks 7 and phonak brio at Costco on 9/24, this was just the first shot programming according to my audiogram. Both sounded natural to me, the phonaks did a better job of filtering out the low frequency hum of the store refrigerators and ventilation system with voices sounding a little crisper overall. I would rate the k7 's which are rexton trax 42’s, about 90 percent of the phonaks and cost $900 less per pair. The Rextons are made by Siemens I believe, and the brios the best I can tell are phonak v90’s with some features disabled in the programming. The Costco dispenser refused to comment on which model the phonaks are, claims they don’t tell him and he doesn’t know BS

10 10 10 20 50 70
10 10 10 40 50 70

[KenP]

The Brio is earlier hardware. They preceded the V-series.

[oetbyg]

So does the new KS7 have rechargeable batteries, since the Trax42 does?

The KS 7 spec sheet shows a rechargeable battery lifetime for the lowest powered model, the S receiver, of “up to 16 hours”. All other receivers have a " - " in that field. I’d take that as a warning.

Discussions in the Trax 42 forums had many references to the rechargeable 312 batteries (which the KS 7’s use) having a hard time lasting through the day. With the Trax 42 @ $2600, one could get the charger and battery as a free accessory. That doesn’t appear to be the case withe KS 7.

Given that Costco batteries cost about $0.18 each, the rechargeables need replacement yearly or sooner, and the charger and batteries aren’t free with the KS 7, you can decide which way to go.

[eek]

Doc Jake and corona, I’m surprised that you’re disagreeing that the KS7s are repackaged Rexton Trax 42’s with a few more features. I’ve looked through the KS7 manual online and at the printed manual that I got with my Trax 42s, and as far as I can tell, the content is identical. The only differences are the HA names, formatting, and that the KS7 manual is online, and the Rexton is not. Am I missing something?

[corona]

Doc Jake and corona, I’m surprised that you’re disagreeing that the KS7s are repackaged Rexton Trax 42’s with a few more features.

Oh woops I’m not disagreeing (or necessarily agreeing, either) with that. It’s even what I heard at Costco. But there seem to be a lot of benefits to buying the Costco brand, rather than Rexton. That’s the first thing. I guess the other is that I really expect thorough, detailed information in an encounter like this. But maybe I misspoke.

[ck2]

I just got back from taking my Dad to Costco for his first appointment for hearing aids. His hearing loss is primarily high frequency, moderate on one side (rifle club in high school), severe on the other (car accident/skull fracture etc…).

The tech pulled out the KS7 and the Rexton Trax 42’s. Yes, the KS7 is similar to the Rexton Trax with a few more features. Since my father is a big music listener, she emphasized that they have programs pre-set for listening to live music, music through speakers, and if you are playing the instrument yourself. The tech admitted the new KS7’s are a great deal.

The only reason she had the Rextons out at all was she heard he had an interest in rechargeables and she said that the KS7 is only available in the smaller size with 312 batteries or rechargeable equivalents. The smaller rechargeable batteries with the KS7 doesn’t last long enough for many people. She said up to 10 hrs but this varies greatly depending on your battery use of course. She had one patient with more severe loss who had his die mid-afternoon. She pushed this hearing aid as one you can “grow” into if your battery needs increase. But my Dad decided that didn’t necessitate an addition ?$800 bucks. So he’s giving up on the rechargeable battery ideas, and hopes his big hands can manage the battery changes with the magnet.

We didn’t have time to do a full trial/fitting today, but my Dad has already decided to take home the KS7’s for sure. Will return next week to pick them up and sign the contract.

[truck12]

Spent day with family, grandsons, daughters-in-law, wife etc…definitely caught more conversation with ks 7.0 than pre 7.0. Most impressive to me was ability to hear everyone while we ate at restaurant. I’ve noticed that if my voice sounds tinny to me, it’s because I have receivers in too far. I don’t have anything on my receivers because my low frequency hearing is fine.

[aspenmeadow]

I got my Resound Calas last week and they are an improvement over my Phonak Naidia, and I really like the iPhone app. Not too intuitive, but better than nothing. I have been wearing HAs for 15 years and get new ones about every three years, at about 5,000 to $6,000 a pair. This is my first experience with Costco and so far I am impressed. I do find the new HAs too shart on doors shutting and toilet flushing, but I intend to wait until my brain adjusts. I am however becoming more interested in the KS7, so I too am looking forward the the review, but since he is new to HAs, he will not have any way of knowing how good they are.

[Doc_Jake]

Do a little research… the ks7 is basically the Signia px7 without the tinnitus feature. The trac is the Siemens bx7 without the tinnitus feature. I wear the carat bx7 with the hot receivers and size 13 batteries. I was offerred and tried the px7 I couldnt tell a difference and stayed with the bx as they are fine tuned. In the spring Signia is bringing out an aid that will no longer need the easytek to communicate with bt devices. I would go replaceable size 312 batteries and with a size 13 it’s a toss up.

[AdamsHouseCat]

I recently purchased Trax 42 HAs from my local Costco. After reading through this thread, I contacted the HAS I had worked with to inquire about two things,

1. Was the KS7s actually Trax42s, and if so, what recourse do I have? Can I trial the KS7S and potentially save $900?
2. What would replace the Trax42s in Costco’s product portfolio? I cannot imagine they could sell two products with the same specs with such a price delta. If there was new technology going into that product slot, I may want to trial that as well.

The HAS stated that the KS7 was not a rebranded Trax42. He said it was an older Rexton dual core HA not a quad core product like the Trax 42.

Am I getting film flammed? Does anyone know for certain what the story is?

You can only operate in the realm of present product offerings. If it were me, and if I was within the 6 month purchase window, I would return the Trax 42 and purchase the KS7. If not within the 6 month window, there is nothing to be done.

[tribalrose]

You can only operate in the realm of present product offerings. If it were me, and if I was within the 6 month purchase window, I would return the Trax 42 and purchase the KS7. If not within the 6 month window, there is nothing to be done.

Pouting is working for me.

[KenP]

I don’t think you need to pout. Jake remarked that he tried the P-series and is wearing the older one and didn’t see enough difference to change. Seeing that he gets his aids free, that really points out how close they are. My guess is Signa only had so long to quit using the Siemens name. The Primax was brought out quickly and likely due to the forced brand renaming more than having the major upgrade that they strive for with new models.

[Doc_Jake]

Kennj… search Signia or Siemens gets you to the same place Signia has an agreement with Siemens for I thi k 3 years to co-brand during the transition. I stayed with the bx bcause they worked just fine, they had the hp receivers, size 13 battery. Plus I wanted to in position this spring for new Signias that wont use an intermediate device for bt.

[mdtx2]

I have no doubt it is really good deal. I’m probably going to try it in a few weeks. I was going to try to wait and see if Costco got the Phonak Venture line this fall, but I think I may have to jump on this.

How did the Kirkland 7.0 work for you? we have similar hearing loss and was about to buy a pair thanks:confused:

[honkwomp]

Bought a set of KS 7.0 and can confirm that they are almost the same as the Rexton 42c, but they have more channels. I saw her spec book too, but I cannot recall exactly how many, I want to say 64 but I might be off. She was reading from the spec book. Other than that she did confirm that these were Rexton and that they use all the same accessories.

So I went to Costco today and wore the KS 7.0 for awhile. Seemed the same as trax 42. I looked at data sheet on both and they are exact except the ks 7.0 has added; voice ranger, reverb reducer, xphone (I believe it puts sound thru both aids while on the phone), and music enhancer. Plus they were $1700 instead of the $2600 trax 42 a week earlier!!! sometimes im too anal on research and put off purchases, but im glad I went in for aids when I did. I pick them up on the 20th and I will sure post on the performance

[honkwomp]

It was an option that you have to pay 80 for. I do not have mine yet but I paid for them and they should arrive on OCT 9

So does the new KS7 have rechargeable batteries, since the Trax42 does?

[corona]

I think people are saying they are a variant of the Signia Primax Pure px7. Which I believe is a newer addition to the Siemens/Rexton/Signia line.

[NoahH]

So I talked to Costco HIS this morning and new KS 7.0 is in. Last week I was fitted with trax 42 and walked around store a bit talking (and listening) to people, and was happy with them. I am a first timer, never had HA’s. HIS told me to wait a week before ordering–thanks for the solid! Told me today that the KS 7.0 is the Trax 42 with a few added bonuses/upgrades, and that the cost is $100 less than KS 6.0 was. Almost sounds-pardon the pun- too good to be true. any thoughts from more experienced hearing impaired individuals? Does this sound like a Costco deal? The cost would be $900 less than the Trax 42 last week!

Yes. Costco can happen to be generous. Some years ago I bought a pair of KS for $2800. A 14 month later the price drop to $1800. As a joke I told the HA fitter “I should have waited to by these”. “would you like to have a reimbursement?” she asked and off she took me to customer service that issued for me a check for $1000.01 just like that…

[SeaRefractor]

Signia, Siemens, Rexton, etc… Sounds confusing and it is because they are all the same owner Sivantos… https://www.sivantos.com/en/about-us/our-brands/

I think it’s that there are some small cosmetic differences, different terminology for same features and some small feature differences that really differentiate the hearing aids. To reduce cost, the circuit boards and IC’s are likely common between the lines for improved margins. When you look at the remote application for the three separate product lines, you see the programmatic layouts are nearly identical. Why does the Easytek, Smart Connect pendants look so identical? Why do so many of the program features match?

Like different style/packages available from a car manufacturers for a new make/model, so are the hearing aids from Sivantos… But it’s fun to argue that they are Rexton and not Signia or Siemens or vice versa, so I digress.

Take a look at the Signia accessory line here: Signia Hearing Aid Accessories - Signia Hearing Aids Compare the exact shape and function to the accessory line of the KS 7.0 at Costco, forget the name, look at the exact design shape, you can see the Costco guides for each accessory for comparison here: http://www.ks7userportal.com/userguides/.
Next take a look at the Rexton accessory line here: Accessories for Hearing Aids - Rexton Hearing Aids - We are talking about the same exact shape and function…

In any event, like many other Kirkland products made by great brands for the Costco Kirkland brand, you are getting top notch high quality hearing aids at a very reasonable price. I know I enjoy mine!

[Doc_Jake]

This is somehow news?